Is the American government requiring American companies to
host terrorist web sites?
By Jeremy Reynalds
web posted May 13, 2002
With the situation in the Middle East close to boiling, two
American Internet Service Providers are claiming that the
government is requiring them to continue hosting web sites
promoting terrorist groups and activities.
Let me explain. Last week I reported a story concerning the
possible hosting by a Houston-based Internet Service Provider
of a Hamas terrorist web site that's asking for donations to buy
guns and ammunition. After calling the company for comment, I
also e-mailed CEO Robert Marsh and asked him why his
company was hosting such a site.
Marsh responded by e-mail, "We host a large number of web
sites, directly and indirectly. We had no knowledge that we were
hosting these sites. We don't want to host these types of sites
and as we are made aware of them, we remove these offensive
sites immediately. We here at Ev1 and Rackshack were deeply
affected by the events on September 11th, and would never do
anything to aid those people. Thank you for bringing this issue to
our attention."
Being aware that the Hamas has been designated an illegal
terrorist group by the United States government, I also alerted
the Houston FBI. An agent took down all the information I gave
him and told me to expect a call the next day. I never received
any call back from the FBI and when the offending web sites
weren't removed I initially figured that maybe the folks at
Everyone's Internet weren't as "deeply affected " as they had
made out.
However, a few days later I was e-mailed a story from the
Houston Chronicle, which let me know why the web sites were
still up and why the FBI hadn't called me back. However, these
"answers" triggered even more questions. Marsh told the
Chronicle he was unaware of the sites until recently (I suspect
when I called his office and e-mailed him informing him of their
existence), and that while Everyman's does not do business
directly with the site operators in question, he was willing to
block them anyway.
Now this is where the story gets really interesting and we need to
start making calls and demanding answers. According to the
Chronicle, after blocking the sites the company was contacted
by the U.S. Customs Service which asked that the sites be put
back on line again. Since when has the U.S. Customs Service
had any form of legal authority over the web?
This time, Marsh did not return e-mails from me asking for
comment. He had nothing to say to the Houston Chronicle either,
on why the Customs Service wanted the sites running again.
According to the Chronicle, "Marsh referred questions to a
telephone number left by a customs agent. The number rang at
the Customs Communications Center in Orlando, Fla., where an
officer said he had no information on the case. FBI and customs
spokesmen in Houston said they too had no information."
There's also apparent government involvement for another
terrorist web site out there too, azzam.com. This site is filled with
a lot of pro-Islamic, anti-American propaganda. Among other
information, you can see quotes from Taliban officials and
spokesmen such as "If a country or group violates our country,
we will not forget our revenge." Another quote read, "Any
enemy of the Muslims will be punished by God. The United
States and Israel are enemies of Islam, and then there was "If
anyone assists America and allows them to use their airspace or
land routes against us then we will be forced to retaliate against
them."
And rhetoric such as THIS is apparently being supported by an
arm of the federal government, because the ISP hosts are not
happy about their involvement. The hosting trail for this site
eventually leads to burst.net
When I e-mailed burst.net asking why the company hosted such
a site, here is the response I got from a Sean Rosler, who
identified himself as being with System Administration.
"BurstNET DOES NOT voluntarily host the azzam.com web
site. It has either been removed from our equipment (It hasn't) or
has been left untouched by gov't official request. (My emphasis).
It was formerly hosted here, was under government investigation,
and was/will be removed as soon as the govt allowed us to do
such. It would have been removed the instant we found out
about it, had we not been instructed by the ‘powers that be' to
leave it untouched ... We are a Jewish owned corporation, do
you really think we want to host such crap?"
Folks, concerned Americans deserve explanations on this one.
WHY is the government apparently requiring these companies to
continue hosting these sites? Let's contact the media, our elected
officials and demand that we get some answers.
Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and
director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency
homeless shelter. He has a master's degree in communication
from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his PhD in
intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He is
married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. His work can be viewed here and weekly at
www.americasvoices.org. He may be contacted by e-mail at
reynalds@joyjunction.org.
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